Social Media and Extremist Groups Online: An Examination of Methods of Radicalization and its Implications

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Fertakos, R. (2019). Social Media and Extremist Groups Online: An Examination of Methods of Radicalization and its Implications. Unc Charlotte Electronic Theses And Dissertations.
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Abstract

This thesis studies the relationship between extremists groups, their presence online, their ability to radicalize individuals, and the implications of this relationship. Data was collected from Twitter related to two significant events claimed by ISIS or ISIS supporters: the 2015 terrorist attacks in Paris and the 2017 Battle of Marawi in the Philippines. The sample of tweets was then broken down into four different "phases" of radicalization by using key indicator terms of each phase. Using both an analysis of time-series trends and negative binomial regression I examine the relationship between the temporal proximity to each event and the number of tweets in each phase of radicalization. The results are inconclusive: there are few clear trends in the time-series analysis, and no statistically significant relationships. I offer possible explanations for the absence of significant relationships, and I conclude that the results nonetheless demonstrate the potential of this type of analysis in the future. Extremist groups continue to operate online, and understanding how they do so may be key to stopping them from radicalizing more individuals.

Details
Author

Fertakos, Ryan

Title

Social Media and Extremist Groups Online: An Examination of Methods of Radicalization and its Implications

Physical Description

1 online resource (48 pages) : PDF

Date

2019

Degree Granting Institution

University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Abstract

This thesis studies the relationship between extremists groups, their presence online, their ability to radicalize individuals, and the implications of this relationship. Data was collected from Twitter related to two significant events claimed by ISIS or ISIS supporters: the 2015 terrorist attacks in Paris and the 2017 Battle of Marawi in the Philippines. The sample of tweets was then broken down into four different "phases" of radicalization by using key indicator terms of each phase. Using both an analysis of time-series trends and negative binomial regression I examine the relationship between the temporal proximity to each event and the number of tweets in each phase of radicalization. The results are inconclusive: there are few clear trends in the time-series analysis, and no statistically significant relationships. I offer possible explanations for the absence of significant relationships, and I conclude that the results nonetheless demonstrate the potential of this type of analysis in the future. Extremist groups continue to operate online, and understanding how they do so may be key to stopping them from radicalizing more individuals.

Genre

masters theses

Subjects--Topics

Public administration

Degree

M.A.

Keywords

Emergency Management
Homeland Security Policy
Radicalization
Social Media
Terrorism
Twitter

Subject Area

Public Administration

Advisor(s)

Conrad, Justin

Committee Members

Leland, Suzanne
Douglas, James

Degree Note

Thesis (M.A.)--University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 2019.

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Rights Holder Information

Copyright is held by the author unless otherwise indicated.

Identifier

Fertakos_uncc_0694N_12045

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.13093/etd:2059